EarthLink posts bigger loss, dip in revenues

Shares of EarthLink Inc. stock dropped more than 6 percent at midday Thursday after the company reports its second-quarter loss grew and overall revenues declined.

The Atlanta-based company, which has some 450 workers in Rochester, reported a net loss of $11.2 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.1 million, or a penny a share, in the second quarter of 2012.

The company posted a net loss from continuing operations of $10.9 million, or 11 cents a share, in the quarter compared with a loss of $607,000, or a penny a share, a year ago.

Analysts had expected the company to post a loss of 6 cents a share, Thomson Reuters reported. The Street expected revenues of $314.76 million.

EarthLink’s total revenue in the quarter was $313.4 million, compared with $334.5 million a year ago. Business services revenues accounted for 78 percent of the company’s total revenue in the quarter, amounting to $243.3 million, down from $253.8 million a year ago.

“We continued to see increased demand in the marketplace for our growth products. Our sales force delivered significantly higher productivity, higher sales in aggregate, a richer mix of growth products and materially higher average revenue per sale,” Chairman and CEO Rolla Huff said in a statement.

The company is in the process of transitioning from an Internet service provider to a provider of information technology services such as data storage and network infrastructure.

The telecommunications and information technology service provider’s stock (Nasdaq: ELNK) was trading at $5.85 at 2 p.m. Thursday, down from Wednesday’s close of $6.27.